REPORTER
Mercer Island
Serving the Mercer Island community since 1947
Flight angel delivers hope
Holiday Guide INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Are you ready? Mercer Island Police Officer Jennifer Franklin will make a presentation about being prepared for an emergency on Monday, Nov. 19, at 1 p.m. at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center. Island residents should be prepared to be on their own for seven days in case of an emergency.
By Rebecca Mar
rmar@mi-reporter.com
Yo Mercer, located in the South end shopping center, is holding a benefit day on Saturday, Nov. 17, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., for the Mercer Island High School orchestra. The group is raising money to fund their trip to Disneyland. Shoppers who mention the MIHS orchestra at Yo Mercer will have 20 percent of their purchase donated to the group.
Thanksgiving senior lunch is Nov. 15 The annual Thanksgiving lunch for seniors will take place at noon on Thursday, Nov. 15, at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center. The lunch, which includes traditional Thanksgiving favorites, will cost $5 plus tax. Call 275-7609 to reserve a spot and get a ride on the bus.
Thanksgiving holiday closures Next week is Thanksgiving, and city offices and the Mercer Island School District will be closed on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 22-23. The Mercer Island Reporter office will be closed on Thursday.
Rebecca Mar/Staff Photo
West Mercer Elementary kids parade along S.E. 40th Street with Principal Rich Mellish in honor of troops and veterans on Thursday, Nov. 8. A special Veterans Day ceremony was held at Homestead Field.
Enduring Hurricane Sandy: the sirens never stopped Islander in NYC recounts the night Sandy hit By Elizabeth Celms
Special to the Reporter
I had no idea what to expect when warnings of Hurricane Sandy became more serious over the weekend of Oct. 27. Hurricane Irene, which hit New York in late August 2011, turned out to be much less destructive than expected. It struck during the middle of the night, and I completely slept through the storm. Our north Brooklyn neighborhood lost a few trees and more branches, but really it was nothing worse than the Inaugural Day Storm that hit the Seattle area in 1993. Other
Northeast regions were hit worse by Irene, but the tropical storm (as it was downgraded to) did little in comparison to Sandy, which turned New York City upside down. My boyfriend, Corey, and I, who live in a first-floor Brownstone apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, prepared for Sandy like most everyone else on our block. We were in “Evacuation Zone B,” which means we had the choice of evacuating. Of course, we were only four blocks away from the mandatory “Evacuation Zone A,” which lined the East River and Newtown Creek, but having unnecessarily shoveled out $50 to catch a cab to a friend’s house for Hurricane Irene, and another $50 back (the MTA shut down all public transport for Irene as well as Sandy), we decided to save a buck and stay. So instead
we bought provisions: jugs of water; a Maglite flashlight; plenty of food; matches; candles and a good bottle of red wine. The storm hit, as predicted, at about 8 p.m. on Monday evening. Although things had been “stormy” all day, once Sandy hit, it was clear. The sheet metal on the balcony next door began ripping too and fro (which sounds like a crashing plane for anyone who’s curious) the wind’s screaming and howling picked up, while a mess of tree branches, garbage (it is New York after all) and who-knows-what whipped around outside our kitchen window. The courtyard slowly but surely began to fill with water. We were lucky it didn’t flood our basement … or our apartment.
Eye on M.I. Share your Island photos with us on Facebook! facebook.com/MIReporter
Sandy | Page 20
What began as a flight attendant’s commitment to write to one soldier on deployment has grown into an operation involving two Mercer Island schools and people across America. Robin Schmidt, known as the “Sky Angel,” was working on a Civil Reserve Air Fleet charter flight, full of soldiers, only a few months after 9/11. She passed a plaque around the plane for soldiers to sign their names so that she could pray for them on their deployment. One soldier joked, would Schmidt ‘adopt’ him while he was overseas? She then began writing
Hope | Page 3
REPORTER
Yo Mercer benefit day for MIHS orchestra is Saturday
Mercer Island
2012
Honoring soldiers
One year $39, two years just $59
MI | THIS WEEK
Wednesday, november 14, 2012 | 75¢
SUBSCRIBE call (253) 872-6610
www.mi-reporter.com